[: 3rd POV : ]

The words left Melira's lips like a divine decree, yet they trembled—uncertain, pained, and full of longing.

But what followed wasn't silence.

It was gasps.

Luke's eyes widened in disbelief.

"W-What...?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.

The rest of the Twilight Knights and Sacred Valkyries, who had rushed in with weapons ready and auras ignited, now stood frozen like statues.

Shock flooded their expressions—some even stepped back instinctively, as though the truth had rattled the very foundation of their reality.

None of them spoke for a long while, until one of the Sacred Valkyries slowly muttered in a voice filled with awe, "The Lifeblood Bond... it resonated?"

Melira gently nodded.

"That's impossible..." one of the knights whispered—but even he couldn't bring himself to doubt.

Not because of rank.

But because they knew. Her bloodline skill—Heartlink—was absolute.

A bloodline ability possessed only by the lineage of an Empress.

Once invoked after childbirth, it forever tethered the life essence of a mother and her child.

It could not be faked.

It could not be replicated. And it could never, ever lie.

So if she claimed she felt her son's life pulse awaken... then there was only one truth.

He was alive.

And he was in danger.

Luke's expression warped into something unreadable at first—shame, disbelief, then fury... and finally, resolve.

His fist clenched so tightly his gauntlet groaned beneath the pressure.

"I failed you..." he muttered. "I failed him."

Melira turned her gaze to him. "Luke…"

"I was supposed to be there for him. I was chosen to train him, to protect him... to teach him how to survive in this wretched world!" His voice rose with trembling intensity.

"I wasn't just a knight, Your Majesty. I—he should have been my Lord."

Silence rippled like thunder across the grand garden as his knee fell to the earth, his brown armour clanking softly against the marble.

One by one, the rest followed—kneeling with heads bowed, fists to their chests.

The emotion in the air was palpable.

They were unrelenting.

"I swear by my name, by my oath as a Twilight Knight,"

Luke declared, his voice unshakable now, "that I will scour every corner of every land, even if I must bleed on every mile, to find him and bring him back to your arms!"

A few of the Valkyries could no longer hold back tears.

"Please forgive us, Your Majesty," one whispered.

"We assumed too quickly. We stopped too early."

Melira, still cloaked in her sorrow and shaken resolve, looked at them all.

At their pain, their loyalty... and their regret.

"No," she said softly.

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I lost myself the moment I thought he was gone... I gave up." Her voice cracked. "I let despair win."

Then she placed a hand on her chest, over her heart, where she could still feel that faint spark of her child's life.

"But no more."

Her eyes lit up—not with grief, but with a cold determination.

"I will not let anyone harm my son again. This time... I will burn the heavens themselves if I must."

Luke bowed deeper. "Your will is our command."

"I know, Luke..." her voice trembled as she spoke, barely more than a whisper at first.

"That's the kind of person you are. Loyal. Stubborn. Righteous. And that's why I chose you to be by his side... to teach him what I could not."

Luke didn't move. He didn't dare breathe.

"But... even with you, even with the Sacred Valkyries, even with all of us searching… why?"

Her eyes burned into the distance as if the sky held the answer.

"Why couldn't we find him? Why did every lead go cold?''

A crackling sound echoed around her—static in the divine air.

Her power flared.

Not wildly, but violently—golden lightning arcing across the sky as if reality itself trembled at her anguish.

"I feel him, Luke... I feel my child. And he's in danger!" she cried, and her voice split the stillness like a sword of grief.

Her body was shaking—not from weakness, but from fury suppressed for far too long.

Luke stepped forward, his expression hardening as his aura ignited with deep crimson flame.

"Then tell me who dares to threaten him, and I swear—I swear on my life—I will find them and execute every last one of those responsible!"

Melira turned to him slowly, and for a moment, her fury gave way to something softer.

Trust.

"Alright..." she said quietly, her voice still shaking, but firmer now.

"I will trust you on that, Luke."

A heavy silence lingered before Melira turned her gaze toward the northern corridor—toward a part of the palace long sealed, a place rarely spoken of.

"…Meanwhile," her voice dimmed, laced with ancient sorrow, "I need to visit Maiya."

Luke froze.

His mouth parted slightly, but no words came.

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the weight of her pain silenced him. His throat tightened.

"Your Majesty..." he said.

But Melira simply looked at him and gave a small, broken smile.

"I have to. She deserves to know. She carried him... she died thinking he was lost''

''If there's even a fragment of her soul still echoing in that place... she needs to hear it."

Luke closed his eyes, bowing deeply once more.

"Then... I pray she smiles upon us once more."

Melira began to walk, the ground healing beneath each step she took, as though nature itself bowed before her grief.

But before she left, she paused and glanced over her shoulder.

"Luke. From this moment forward... leave no stone unturned. Use every channel, every path, every spy, shadow, whisper, or forbidden gate. Start from the beginning and hunt the truth''

''Use every resource if you must."

Luke straightened up, his voice unwavering.

"Yes, Your Majesty''

''The order shall be carried out without delay''

''The full force of the Twilight Knights, Sacred Valkyries, Silent Night, Golden Warriors, 12 Wings Blade, Divine Mage, Eternal Guardians, Daughters of Rose and Fangs of Herald shall move as one."

And in that moment, the Empress who had mourned in silence for five long years… became something else.

Not just a grieving mother.

But a storm awakened.

On the far side of the continent, buried beneath the cursed cliffs and volcanic ravines of the western lands, stood the Abyss Prison—a place never spoken of aloud.

It was a fortress of torment, not meant for common criminals, but for those who held dangerous secrets… or whose existence threatened the stability of nations.

The air there was thick, soaked with centuries of pain, blood, and unending screams.

The very stone seemed to weep.

Deep within its lowest depths—beyond layers of forbidden runes, cursed chains, and wards carved by forgotten beings—there lay a sealed chamber untouched by light.

Inside, bound by divine chains and drenched in silence, was Maiya.

Once hailed as the most trusted and powerful Sacred Valkyrie—Daniel's assigned caretaker, protector, and tutor—Maiya had vanished during the Zero Organisation's raid.

It was long believed she had died defending the infant prince.

But she hadn't.

She had been imprisoned.

And only a few knew the truth.

The footsteps came first—elegant yet heavy, echoing down the obsidian corridor like distant thunder.

The air shifted, trembled even, as the aura of an Empress drew near.

Guards along the halls dared not even breathe as she passed.

Then came the door—a titanic slab of blacksteel engraved with binding spells and ancient seals.

It groaned open like a dying beast.

Melira stepped in.

Her gaze met the broken figure suspended in the middle of the room—limbs chained, body bruised, violet hair now dulled like ash.

Her once divine uniform was torn and faded.

Her eyes, once filled with pride, were now hollow as if life had been drained slowly from within.

"Maiya..." Melira whispered, her voice trembling for the first time in years.

There was silence.

Then, a voice responded, soft and cracked like dry paper, "Why have you come, Melira...?"

Her head didn't rise.

Her eyes didn't move.

She remained still, every inch of her body bound and sealed.

The weight of her suffering was indescribable.

If it were anyone else who dared speak her name so freely in such a sacred and cursed place, the very laws of the empire would demand punishment.

But not for Maiya.

She wasn't just a maid.

She was Melira's childhood friend, sworn sister, and once her only confidante when they were just two young girls dreaming of a better world in the gardens of the old palace.

"Maiya… It's been so long since I last saw you…" Melira spoke again, trying to meet her gaze.

Her voice trembled with old wounds, her fingers curled tightly around the fabric of her cloak.

Maiya didn't lift her head.

Her violet hair hung like a curtain, dulled from years of damp air and sealed magic.

"I don't need you. I don't need anyone to see me, Melira. If you've come just to look, then leave."

Her voice was sharp, cold—but behind that coldness was a deep ache.

Melira took a slow step forward.

"You don't have to do this anymore. You don't have to punish yourself."

That word—punish—ignited something.

Maiya's eyes snapped open, glowing faintly despite the seals.

Her chains rattled violently as she tugged against them with rage and despair, her voice rising like a scream trapped beneath centuries of guilt.

"Punish!?" she spat. "You think this is punishment, Melira!? You think I chose to suffer like this to feel noble?! I wanted to die! I begged for it!"

Melira flinched.

The pain in her chest was unbearable, but she held her ground.

Maiya's voice broke, cracked with sorrow and bitterness.

"It was me... me who was supposed to protect him. I held him in my arms when he was born" Her body trembled.

"You entrusted him to me—your son, your only light—and I lost him. I let him vanish right under my watch!"

Tears streamed freely down Maiya's cheeks, no longer restrained.

"I couldn't live with that. I didn't want to. But even when I tried to end it, the Rulers stopped me''

''You stopped me''

''Why?! Why did you stop me when I had nothing left?!"

"Because I needed you, Maiya!"

Melira shouted suddenly, her voice ringing across the chamber.

She stepped forward until they were only a breath apart, the chains between them clinking softly.

"I hated you, yes. I wanted to kill you, yes. I lost my mind. I lost him. But after I calmed… after the rage passed…"

Her voice softened, cracked like shattered glass.

"You were all I had left of him"

Maiya stared at her, stunned, her lips parted but no words coming.

"You are not my maid, Maiya. You are my sister. My friend. The only person I ever trusted with something so precious''

''And even now... I don't blame you. I blame myself—for not being there, for trusting the wrong people, for not protecting both of you."

For a moment, silence engulfed them. Raw, suffocating silence.

Then, Maiya's voice broke once more, fragile and aching, "He was just a baby, Melira… He cried for you when the flames came''

''I held him so tight… and I failed. I failed you."

Melira reached forward, placing her hand gently on Maiya's cheek.

Despite the grime, the chains, the years of suffering… she looked at her with nothing but tenderness.

Melira stepped closer, her voice trembling but firm—like a storm trying to hold itself together.

Her eyes softened, glistening with a strange mix of sorrow and hope as she whispered:

"But Maiya… my child… is alive."

The words struck like thunder.

Maiya froze.

Her breathing stopped.

Even the steady fall of her tears halted midstream.

For a long second, she didn't move—couldn't move.

Her entire body was locked in disbelief, her mind trying to process what she had just heard.

"W–What…?" she stammered, voice cracking.

"Are you joking with me, Melira?! Is this some cruel test?! Even if it's you… I won't take that lightly!"

Her hands trembled against the cold iron shackles, as if afraid that this was some illusion, some twisted game of false hope.

But Melira's gaze did not waver.

"You know me, Maiya. You know I would never joke about this''

''You know full well—I can detect the life force of my child. It was into him when he was born''

Her voice shook now, every word laced with desperation and conviction.

Maiya stared at her, wide-eyed.

Everything inside her wanted to scream in disbelief… but she knew Melira.

She knew her powers.

And if Melira said he was alive… then he was.

"Your son is alive...?" Maiya whispered, her voice barely audible.

"W–Where is he now!? Please—tell me where!"

Melira lowered her head, shame flickering across her face.

"That's the problem…" she said softly.

"I don't know. I can only detect his lifeforce, not his current location, even now—I can feel it. He's in danger. Every part of me is screaming that something is wrong."

A pause.

Then Melira looked up, her expression resolute.

"That's why I came here… why I sought you out. I need your help, Maiya. I need your strength. I can't do this without you."

For a heartbeat, silence swallowed the room once more.

And then—

CRACK!

With a sudden, violent surge of power, the chains on Maiya's limbs shattered into nothingness.

The magic seals that had bound her for years disintegrated into light.

A wave of raw, untamed mana exploded around her, shaking the very foundation of the sealed cell.

She had done it herself.

Because the only thing holding her there… was her own guilt.

She rose slowly, her eyes ablaze with purpose, strength flowing back into her broken body.

The pain, the self-inflicted punishment, the decades of despair—they all burned away in that moment.

"You should have said that earlier, idiot…"

Maiya muttered, wiping her tears roughly with the back of her hand.

"And you really think I'd say no to that? To him? To find the boy I was meant to raise?"

She looked Melira in the eyes.

Her voice was steady now. Fierce.

"Let's find him. No matter where he is, no matter who has him… I swear, I'll bring him back. Alive. Safe. I won't fail you a second time."

And just like that—

Maiya, once broken and sealed, stood reborn.

Not just as a maid… not just as a friend.

But as a woman who would tear the world apart to save the one child she once lost.

Together, they would begin the search.